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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26678425">Echo of a Memory</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lonyn/pseuds/Lonyn'>Lonyn</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>No Fandom, Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Action &amp; Romance, Action/Adventure, Blood and Violence, Empath, F/M, Fantasy, Mages, Magic, Memory Alteration, Memory Loss</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 02:47:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,479</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26678425</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lonyn/pseuds/Lonyn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Roa couldn't recall much from her life, but she knew she was the worst person to be bestowed the abilities of an empath. On the run from what felt like a previous life she's suddenly being pulled back into the world she thought she left behind. He came back into her life, and he felt like a home she'd forgotten. She will do whatever it takes to protect him from the person who stole their lives so long ago.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Echo of a Memory</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I would love for this to go somewhere, it's something that I've been slowly adding more to. However, I kind of feel like this first chapter can stand on its own so I felt like posting it. Title and summary subject to change.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>            The sun had swept upon her face, and her barrier slipped at her ease. The crowd in the market were in a frenzy. She could feel the nerves, the worry, some anger, but mostly fear. Immediately she was awake, having fallen asleep on the sill of her window. Normally she could silence the emotions, it took a lot of energy, but it was possible. If she had it her way she wouldn’t be living so close to a city center, but it was the best way to peddle money “pretending” to be a seer.</p>
<p>            She took a breath, trying to calm her own nerves that were rattling because of the people. She slipped out her window to climb onto the roof to see what was going on. The view from her window was adequate, however the roof gave her a clearer look of the cobblestone street from the city gate to the market all the way up to the gates of the royal house.</p>
<p>            Her heart raced faster from her own worry at seeing four figures gliding down the street. The Omens. Personal assassins of the high Emperor. One she used to be part of. Jigaire thought she was dead, by some lucky break she’d managed to tap into her powers just long enough to make him feel triumphant. She nearly killed herself by attempting it, but his hands around her neck made her desperate.</p>
<p>            Why would they be here? She settled in this city because it was on the outskirts by the sea. They did well, abided by the laws, and it was quiet here. For the Omens to be here meant something was wrong, and she knew in her gut that she was the reason. Some asshole ran their mouth that a seer was in town and telling fortunes. She cursed, she didn’t have the energy to fight them all at once, and because of the tonics they shoved down their throats she barely remembered much of what they even did over the years. She knew that her childhood was stolen, and practically half her life. Other than that her memory was almost a void filled with patchy moments she sometimes could decipher.</p>
<p>            She knelt down behind the peak of the building making out their figures. They were questioning shop owners, and one pointed towards her ramshackle structure. Violence and dread consumed her, and she moved once they were out of sight. She was inside her living space scrambling to grab anything that was important. She left her flat and made her way down the hallway but stopped at the stairs.</p>
<p>            The presence of them was undeniable, and as quiet as she could she hurriedly made her way inside and out her window. She was hopping the rooftops when a shimmer appeared before her. Their uniform hadn’t changed over the year; the same black cloak with a mask covered half their faces. All she could see was Jigaire’s piercing green eyes settling upon her. She felt it, felt the malice, the dread, the <em>jealousy</em>.</p>
<p>            “You don’t know how to stay dead do you?” He made her feel ill, and she buried her own fear. His sword shimmered into his hand, and she could feel his emotions ranging from anger to anxiety. His energy was displaced, his feelings were his, but they were muddy. The tonics suppressed a lot, but Jigaire was always different on his and somehow somewhat lucid.</p>
<p>            She stilled when she felt a warmth behind her; his energy calm as he typically was. There was an anxious buzz that littered his feelings as well, but it was him. She turned and when her eyes caught those honeyed hues she felt something she hadn’t felt in a long time. “Garoh..” she breathed barely above a whisper. There was a shift in him; something in their gaze triggered his heart to skip beats. He felt like home to her, and she felt how much he missed her. His eyes widened and she turned just in time to duck. Jigaire’s sword violently swung where her head was a breath ago.</p>
<p>            Without thinking she swept her leg underneath Jigaire’s, and he fell creating a hole in the roof his leg crashed through. She didn’t know what Garoh was going to do, but she wasn’t going to find out as she tried to slide down the roof until Jigaire’s vice grip on her wrist stopped her. He suddenly let go when the blade of Garoh’s pole arm slammed down onto the rooftop where his arm used to be. She didn’t wait to find out what happened next, and she slid down till she landed on the balcony of someone’s home then off the side and to the next one down. Her feet hit the ground and she bolted.</p>
<p>            She had a moment where she could slip into the crowd of the market, but not wanting to leave Garoh slipped into her mind. After all these years he was still with them, still a slave, but she couldn’t worry about him right now. She had to worry about herself.</p>
<p>            Shaking her apprehension she moved deeper into the crowds despite the flood of emotions that threatened to overwhelm her. She hated being an empath for this very reason. On a normal day she could push it down, push it back to the depths, but with her own panic running rampant she was unable to put up her barriers. It was raging making her feel ill; there were too many people with too many feelings.</p>
<p>            She ducked back into an alleyway, trying to catch her breath. She needed a distraction, something to cause more panic amongst the people. A convenient explosion would be nice, but despite her rather cynical nature she didn’t want to hurt anyone. Where was an earthquake when she needed one?</p>
<p>            Easing back into the crowd, she did her best to shrink down. Her height was problematic in this instance; she normally towered over the average person, and Garoh was even worse with how tall he was. She heard a scream behind her and people began to panic. It turned out she didn’t need much of a distraction when she saw Jigaire, bloody and battered far down the street. When he violently pushed people out of the way the crowd began to run. Well, it seemed she didn’t have to let loose Marv’s cattle after all.</p>
<p>            Panic was flowing over the people, screams, and people were scrambling. Her heart was racing as she could feel the determination of Jigaire and the other Omens getting closer. She had to get out of the city, but if she left the city they’d surely find her. No. What she needed to do was hide in the city now, and leave later.</p>
<p>            The ground suddenly shook violently, and she fell hearing a loud crack as a shock scattered through the ground. Her thoughts turned to Garoh; his skills in magic were the best in their group, and for that Jigaire was always jealous. He liked to think he was the strongest, but Garoh merely held back for his sake. They all knew who was the better one.</p>
<p>            If Garoh was still helping her then he was vulnerable. She had to find him, but she could barely focus. Too many feelings still swirled around her, and the mass panic was filling her head. It was a bad time to feel hazy, but she had to head down another alleyway just to catch her breath again. It was probably the worst place to be but she couldn’t focus.</p>
<p>            She took a deep breath, another, but the sweep of warm air into her lungs was doing nothing to help her. Darkness was spilling over the city as the sun set and she found a way to climb until she was on the rooftop of the building. It wasn’t long before the feelings consumed her and overwhelmed her enough to black out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            ~~</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            When the raindrops spattered across her face she felt a calm enter her mind. Her barriers were firmly back in place and the headache was minor. The rain poured harder and she had to gather her bearings to figure out why she was on a rooftop in the middle of the night during a storm.</p>
<p>            “Shithead…” A long dragged out sigh escaped her at the thought of that boil at the bottom of her foot. She needed to get out while the cover of rain and night were on her side. She didn’t know what eventually transpired and she reached out to feel if anything was amiss. There was peace in her vicinity, a little midnight spice, and she carefully found her way back down onto the ground, slinking through the alleyways once more.</p>
<p>            She felt so tired, almost hungover, as she moved out onto the streets. The front gate would be pointless to go through, and the guards would stop her to ask too many questions. Undoubtedly the Omens got their permission from the royal house and the guards would surely be instructed to act accordingly. It didn’t matter; she knew a way in and out without having to worry. She’d helped out the man behind the smuggling ring a time or two, and he would let her go freely as she pleased.</p>
<p>            Once outside the walls and out the tunnel she hurriedly made her way through the woods, but stopped when she had a feeling. She thought she was being careful. Perhaps she should’ve let her barriers down, but she didn’t want a repeat of earlier. She eased them back and felt someone’s panic. <em>His</em> panic.</p>
<p>            “Garoh?” She could feel him close as she searched. She could hear haggard breathing and she hurried toward that direction. There he was leaning against a tree and clutching his arm. The rain was sparse between the tree cover, but despite her eyes adjusting it was too dark to see him fully. But she <em>felt</em> him.</p>
<p>            “There better… be a good reason why…” he breathed, letting out a cough, “why I helped you…”</p>
<p>            “Garoh,” she was breathless as she moved closer. “I can’t see.” He held out his palm and in a moment a small fireball flickered. His tired eyes were watching her; she could see his face for the first time in so long. “It’s really you.”</p>
<p>            “I know that I know you… I don’t know… Everything’s muddled…”</p>
<p>            “It’s the tonic,” she told him. “The tremors were bad for a week. I see clearly these days, not trapped behind a fog.” He was slumping and she helped him to sit on the ground. “It felt like death coming down, but when you realize what they’ve done to us… It’s not hard to fight through it.”</p>
<p>            He shook his head. “I don’t understand… He said you were dead. That you betrayed us… Fang…” he was unsure of himself, but locked eyes with her again. “Fang.” He was more sure this time as he held their gaze. She nodded. “I missed you…” His eyes fluttered closed and she placed her hand against his cheek as the fire flickered from his palm. “Jigaire managed to stab me… There’s a cut… my arm.”</p>
<p>            “Garoh, stay awake. You know how to heal.”</p>
<p>            “Poorly… It’s why I’m not dead yet from this one.” He motioned to his side.</p>
<p>            “Can you move? We need to keep going. There’s a village not too far from here. I know the Innkeep.”</p>
<p>            He began to get up, determination and resilience was a part of their nature, but the walk would be grueling. She held onto him though, didn’t want to let him go. She had to tell him all the wrongs she could remember. The things they did. She hated to remember bits and pieces but it was a reminder to be better than the monster she used to be. Her memory was foggy and patchy at best, but she knew she saw something that caused her to gain a red mark on her back. It was why Jigaire tried to kill her. She could barely remember it on a good day.</p>
<p>            It took forever and many stumbles, but she finally got them to the Inn. He was able to stand on his own out of sight, but she chuckled to herself at that thought. As out of sight as he could be being a pillar. She got them a room and helped him up the stairs, and he practically fell into the chair when he made it there.</p>
<p>            “I’m pretty bad at patching people up.” She told him.</p>
<p>            “That’s right… You aren’t a mage,” he said, trying to peel his sopping cloak from himself. She helped him pull it off, pulling other articles of clothing from him, listening to the slops as it slapped the floor. She couldn’t help admiring the broadness of those shoulders, the strength in his arms. She wasn’t sure until now, but she certainly had a thing for him even drugged up on those tonics.</p>
<p>            She could see his wounds; blood seeped from his side and began to run down his arm. “Shit…” she cursed. “You need a proper healer.”</p>
<p>            “No… Any healer will be the first place Ji looks. Because he’ll be at one too.”</p>
<p>            She smirked, “Fucked him up pretty good did you?” She saw a small smile twitch at the corner of his lips. “You were always the best of us.”</p>
<p>            She watched him take in a breath trying to concentrate as he placed his hand to his side. He tried again to heal himself, and she barely saw the white flow from his palm. He dug into his pocket and pulled out a few vials. She didn’t say anything as she was being pulled in two directions. She didn’t want him to take it, she’d lose him, but if he didn’t take it… she could lose him if he didn’t patch his wounds up. The tonic was wonderful in that it enhanced your own strengths, healed you, made you less susceptible to injuries. The downside was being an obedient soldier.</p>
<p>            “Get rid of them,” he held them out to her.</p>
<p>            “Garoh… Are you sure? Coming down from it… especially right now in your condition…” her voice fell off, her argument weak. He grabbed her hand with a grunt and put the last three little bottles in her palm.</p>
<p>            “Better to get it over with…” He mumbled.</p>
<p>            A soft knock sounded from the door and she was on alert. She stuffed the vials in her pack, and quietly stepped over to the entry. She couldn’t feel any malice or intent to harm so she opened it slightly letting out the breath she was holding at seeing Gran the Innkeep.</p>
<p>            “Your man bled all over my stairs. What’s going on?”</p>
<p>            “My friend’s hurt.”</p>
<p>            “Yeah, I know,” he held up a bag and she opened the door wider so he could come in. “Let me patch ‘im up ‘fore he stains my Inn.” He took a look at Garoh sitting in the chair and let out a sigh of relief. “Wonderful, you ‘aven’t messed the sheets. You know ‘ow ‘ard tis getting stains out? Already a pain in my ass the vermin that come in ‘ere. No offense, Poppy.”</p>
<p>            “None taken.”</p>
<p>            She watched as he stitched up his side, Garoh barely flinching at the alcohol being spilled over his wounds. He was thinking, and she could already see his mind was all over the place as he squeezed his eyes shut at the fog becoming too clear.</p>
<p>            “Change the dresses in the morn, afternoon, nightfall. Good cleanin’ and you should be fine. You’re lucky.”</p>
<p>            “Just skilled,” she said. “Thanks, Gran.”</p>
<p>            “Welcome. No more bleedin’ on my floors please. Or the bed. Funny business stains my sheets and you’ll open the wound so try not to do too much of that. Please.”</p>
<p>            She snorted, “No worries, Gran.” She watched him cleaning up before he left and she had to interrupt him to get him to go. He left her with a bag of food and she was more than happy to dig in as she brought it to Garoh to eat as well.</p>
<p>            “Eat something. How long has it been? We didn’t used to eat much during the day from what I can remember.”</p>
<p>            He happily smashed the bread in his face and ate the smoked meats they’d been given. After she finished eating she went into the washroom to throw her own sopping clothes off managing to find something dry in her pack to wear. She was chilled, and hadn’t really noticed since she was busy with other things on her mind. When she came out she saw Garoh tossing a flick of fire into the fireplace. His eyes were fixated on the flames, she could see the void within them in this moment. He was thinking hard on something.</p>
<p>            She sat beside the fire looking up at him relaxed in the chair. His hair was still that lovely shade of sandy brown, skin golden as the fire bronzed his glow. He was beautiful. She always thought he was. She could see flashes of their time together and how often they trained. Maybe they didn’t say much, but there was an unspoken bond. They looked out for each other, and for a moment she felt his guilt before she concentrated a moment to strengthen her barriers. She didn’t want to know what he was feeling, wasn’t sure she could handle it.</p>
<p>            “We were close.” His voice was warm and soft, or maybe it was the insistence of the fire that made her think so. “I don’t… Remember. It’s frustrating…”</p>
<p>            “I won’t lie to you and tell you it’ll get much better. Your thoughts will be more clear, but… Everything will still be broken in bits. You’ll remember things you don’t want to remember… And still forget the things you want to remember. We were mindless, we didn’t question the orders.”</p>
<p>            He glanced her way, a hard pressed look. “What happened?”</p>
<p>            She shrugged. “I don’t know for sure. I heard something, I saw something that Emperor Praetor did, was going to do… I can’t say for sure. It was enough cause for her to have Jigaire kill me. I’m sure he didn’t struggle much with that decision.”</p>
<p>            “He has so much hate.”</p>
<p>            “I know… He’s a lot more… Lucid than we ever were.” She mentioned, and he nodded slowly.</p>
<p>            “His tonics must be different.” A yawn escaped him, and she chuckled at how unlike him that was.</p>
<p>            “To bed with you. We have plenty of time to talk now.” She stood, moving over to help him stand, guiding him to the bed where he sat. She went to hang his sopping clothes knowing he hadn’t much options otherwise. She didn’t think her things would suffice. When she came back he was struggling to untie his boots. With a groan he let her slip them off his feet. He was embarrassed, and for that she chuckled again.</p>
<p>            “I’m sorry.”</p>
<p>            “You’ve nothing to be sorry for. I’m rather enjoying watching you squirm.” She smirked up at him and she saw the rosy blush on his cheeks. He slipped his pants off and she took them from him to hang with his other clothes. When she came back he was slipping under the covers and really began to laugh when his feet hung off the end of the bed.</p>
<p>            He let out a sigh, “so funny… Roa…” She stilled when he said that and she saw the gaze of his eyes peeking out from under his forearm. “Rosamund?”</p>
<p>            She nodded slowly, it’d been a long time since she’d heard that nickname and she didn’t think anyone knew her full name. There must’ve been a moment, or some time of quiet that they shared intimate details. She wished she could recall them wanting to know every little thing they ever spoke of.</p>
<p>            “Is this a dream?” He muttered on a quiet breath. “Was it all a dream?” His breathing slowed down and she saw the steady rise and fall of his chest. She didn’t respond, didn’t want to wake him, but she didn’t know how to answer his question anyway. Sometimes it felt like a dream. Even this felt like one.</p>
<p>            Her morning was normal with a few typical readings and a stroll through the market for food. It was mundane, typical, but it was safe. At least she thought it was. She carefully crawled into the bed easing underneath the covers beside him. His forearm was still settled over his forehead, and she could see the tattoo branded on his inner arm. She shared one in the same spot wishing she had the guts to carve it out like she thought she had in a feverish dream.</p>
<p>            She reached out and brushed her fingers gently over his chest. He was real. He wasn’t a dream.</p>
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